Other Regions in Europe

Northern Europe Weather Overview

Scandinavia
lies in Europeâs most northern realms.
Geographically consisting of Denmark,
Norway, Sweden and Finland,
the region has vastly different weather conditions across the landmass-
dependant on proximity to the ocean or sea, the Arctic
Circle or mountain ranges.

Obviously,
the further north you head toward the Arctic Circle,
the colder conditions will get- winters become blistering, snow and frost
becomes frequent and the scenery is predominately icy. In the very north, where the
Norway curves around to hug
its Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Finland,
the conditions can be harsh. There is darkness throughout the entire day in the
height of winter and continuous day light in the midst of summer.

BodÃ¸, a town in the very north of Norway, is
referred to as the Land of the Midnight Sun, this is the sun does not fully set
for one month during the midst of summer. Here, winter sees and average
temperature of -2 degrees Celsius, and the summer months see average temps of
12 degrees.

The west
coast of Scandinavia is home to Norwayâs
coastal region, the main towns being BodÃ¸, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger
(among others.) The conditions become more extreme as you head north however
the coast as a whole sees milder winter conditions comparative to inland
Scandinavia, solely because the coast is moderated by the warm Atlantic waters
of the Gulf Stream which prevents the waters
from freezing over completely.

When in Scandinavia,
particularly when in the far north one of the things that with strike you the
most is the variable hours of daylight. In the north of Norway and Scandinavia,
there is no complete darkness from May 20 to July 20. At winter solstice, the
sun rises at 10:00AM, where it stays very low above the horizon, and sets again
just after lunch at 2:30PM.

BodÃ¸ lies in the very North of Norway, just north of the
Arctic Circle upon the Norwegian Sea. In the Landof
the Midnight Sun the sun does not fully set from June 2 until July 10. Here during the summer, the sun shines upon
the Arctic Ocean even in the depths of the
night. On the flipside, from December until early January there is no visible
sun in the city even in the middle of the day- this is actually due partly to
the mountains that lie just south of BodÃ¸ which block sunlight to the city.

BodÃ¸ also sits in a position where it is just 30km west of
the worlds strongest tidal current, Saltstraumen, which sees water
speeds reaching 20 knots (about 37 km/h). In this area you can often find
strong whirlpools which occurs as 400 million cubic meters of seawater forces
its way through a 3 km long and 150 m wide strait every six hours.

BodÃ¸ is also one of Norway's
most windy cities. Located on an unsheltered peninsula in the Norwegian
Sea, the wine means that there is little snow cover throughout
winter despite the fact the city is definitely cold enough to support snow. Average
temperature for January is -2.2 Â°C, while July average is 12.5 Â°C. Due to its
proximity to the warming Gulf Stream, Bodo doesnât see the major temperature
extremes that other parts of Norway
see, for example the coldest month on record was February 1966 with a mean of
-8.9 Â°C, and the warmest was July 1937 with a mean of 17.1 Â°C.

Trondheim

As you head further south down the coast you will reach Trondheim, lying
on the central coast of Norway.
During summer solstice in Trondheim
the sun rises at the bizarre hour of 03:00AM and does not sets at 11:40pm at
night. Even upon setting it stays just below the horizon. Trondheimâs
weather conditions can be characterized as maritime, due to its position where
the river Nidelva meets Trondheimsfjorden the city is mostly sheltered from the
windy conditions that parts of northern Norway see.

Summer in this area sees average daily highs of 17 to 18
degrees and minimums of 8 to 10 degrees, which July generally being the warmest
month. Throughout summer there are generally about 30 odd days with
temperatures in excess of 20 degrees, but on average the mercury will sit below
20 degrees.

Winters can get quite chilly, there are, on average, 22 days
throughout winter which record a minimum temperature of -10 Â°C or colder. In
winter Trondheim
experiences moderate snowfall, with this generally falling from November to
March. There are on average 14 days of snowfall in excess of 25 cm snow cover
during this period.

Bergen

Heading further down the coast you will reach the city of Bergen, which has been nicknamed âThe City of Rain.â Due to its location on
the coast and nestled amongst mountains the city experiences a notoriously high
rainfall, the high mountains mean that it is difficult for the clouds to leave
the area. In fact, rain fell on 85 consecutive days during the period between
October 29, 2006 and January 21, 2007. The high rainfall has been used as a
marketing ploy for the city, in fact gimmick umbrella vending machines were
operating in the city for a short period of time under it was realized that
these werenât proving to be particularly successful!

When you head east around the southern coast of Norway,
and into the Skagerrak strait you will reach the countryâs capital city
of Oslo. Oslo lies within the largest area of lowland
in the whole country. Because of this the winters are cold and the summers are
longer and warmer than other parts of the country. The weather conditions are
classified as âHumid Continentalâ with periods that also resemble a âhemi
borealâ climate, which means it plays host to warm, but not hot summers. In
saying this, Oslo is the hottest and driest area
in Norway
during the Summer months and is a very enjoyable summer holiday destination.

Every summer during June to Early September the city and surrounding area experiences
heat waves which see temperature reach in excess of 30 degrees Celsius. The
Oslofjord inlet has many public beaches which can be packed out in the summer
months. The water temperature in the area generally lies around a comfortable
20 Â°C and can sometimes as reach highs of 23-24 Â°C.

While summers are enjoyable in Oslo,
its lox lying location, far from the moderating waters of the Atlantic Gulf
Stream and coastal winds winters can get bitterly cold with an abundance of
rain. January sees Oslo
at its coldest with a mean temperature of -4.3 Â°C. From January to February the
mean daily temperature sits at a blistering -7 Â°C, and back in 1871 Oslo recorded a achingly
cold low of -27.9 Â°C. Temperature begin to warm up slightly in March before
reaching an average daily high of 16 degrees by May.

Global Warming in Norway

When looking at the historical temperatures of Norway
and Scandinavia is will be noticed that (bar a
few freak cold spells) the coldest temperatures in the region have been
recorded decades, even centuries ago. In 2003 in Norway the annual mean temperature
was 1.3 Â°C above the 1961-1990 average- a result of global
warming.

Concern
over global warming is great in Norway and Scandinavia
as the countries lie north close to the Arctic region. As yearly temperatures
are on the rise so too are tides (albeit by very minimal amounts). The concern
is that as the ice melts near poles the sea level is rising, a problem which
has already been noted by coastal communities which

have
experienced flooding in past years. However, as a lot of the Norwegian Coast
is steeply sloping the concerns are not grave. The problem could be more
serious for areas which are low lying such as the alluvial fans near the mouths
of fjords and the flat lowlands in Jaeren, south
of Stavanger and in and around Norwayâs Capital city of Oslo.

Temperatures
have tended to be warmer in recent years. In 2007 it was noted that the TrÃ¸ndelag
area has seen average temperatures increase by almost 2 Â°C over the last 25
years.

The gases that contribute most to the greenhouse effect/ global warming
are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorine
compounds. In

Norway
greenhouse gas emissions rose by around 8 percent from 1990 to 2006 so as
a result Norway has
committed itself to limit its emissions in 2008 - 2012 to maximum 1 per
cent above the 1990 level in an attempt to do its part of slowing down or
potentially preventing global warming.

SwedenandFinland

Sharing the 2,542 km land border with Norway
are Sweden and Finland. Inland Norway
and Sweden have very similar
climates; however the factor that prevents them from being exactly the same is
the presence of the Kjolen mountain range along the border
with Norway..The
mountains have the affect of sheltering Sweden
from the milder and wetter Atlantic winds that Norway is subject to. As a result
winters are slightly more extreme that what Norway experiences.

Basically,
the south of the two countries experience a northern temperate climate. They
are still in close enough proximity to be influenced by the warming Gulf Stream, which explains the unusually warm conditions
that are out of character for such countries in such northerly latitude.

The
south of Sweden is home to low lying plains and a number of lakes. The winters here are much
short than in the north, and rainfall is predominately in the summer months as
in the winter months precipitation falls in the form of snow. This is the same
for the southern parts of Finland as well which sees the low playing plains play host to the countryâs capital
city of Helsinki.

Helsinki is in fact Europes
coldest capital city, and sees the highest number of days with recorded
snowfall- averaging 101 days per year.

The west coast of Sweden,
bordering the Baltic Sea is much milder than
the east coast. For the reasons that it lies closer to the influence of the
Atlantic and also as this part of the Baltic Sea
doesnât freeze over whereas the East Coast lies upon waters which freeze over
partially, or sometimes completely.

Stockholm

There
is also higher snow fall on the east coast, with Stockholm average 60 snow days per year. Stockholm, Swedenâs capital, sees wide range
of conditions across the year. It lies in a position where it is moderated by
the influences of the Gulf Stream but also affected by the colder conditions
typical of the east coast of Sweden.
July typically sees an average high of 22 degrees and a low of 14 degrees,
which January and February each see average maximums only reaching -1 degrees
and average low falling to a chilly â" 5 degrees. The record low in Stockholm
saw the Swedes enduring an aching -28 degree day, and the hottest day ever in
the city saw the Mercury top 35 degrees! You can see that the city experiences
an interesting array of conditions.

Northern Sweden/Finland

The north west of Sweden sees you entering the Kjolen
mountain ranges where there are plateaus of moderate to high elevation. The
region has severe long winters which increase in extremity as you increased is
elevation.

As you
head further north conditions in Sweden
and Finland
become more extreme and the weather conditions are characterized by a âsub
arcticâ climate. 25% of Finland
lies north of the Arctic Circle so as a result during the winter, northern Finland
experiences no sun for 51 consecutive days!

On
the flipside, like Norway the area experiences the âmidnight sunâ phenomenon
where for 73 days of the year the sun doesnât set completely and the areas
basks in a midnight sun as the sun hovers on the horizon.

In the
Province of Lapland
in northern Finland there is snow cover from mid October right through until May. If visiting
during this time it is important to bring sufficient warm clothes and necessary
snow gear as you run the risk of frostbite if you go without. Interestingly, in
the summer months the region is home to swarms of mosquitoes which can prove
extremely uncomfortable at times.

Lying
between the coasts of Sweden
and Finland is the Gulf of Bothinia,
which in the winter time can freeze over completely leaving ice breakers to
plough through so that ships can reach the eastern ports of Sweden and Western ports of Finland.

Denmark

The
southern most of the Nordic countries is Denmark, home to the âhappiest
people in the World.â Denmark
is a low lying country with a temperate climate, winters are not overly cold
and summers are relatively cool. In the height of summer the average
temperature sits at 15 degrees and winter sees an average of 0 degrees Celcius.

The
countryâs capital, Copenhagen,
has been voted the â3rd most livable city in the worldâ by a
European magazine and sees mild conditions year round. Summer in Copenhagen
sees the city witness average maximums of a pleasant 19 to 22 degrees, and
winter sees average minimum temperatures of -3 degrees and 1 degrees in
February and December respectively, maximums of about 2 degrees.

Denmark, like other Scandinavian countries, is
affected by the varying sunlight that is typical of regions in northern
latitudes, however it doesnât see the light and dark extremes that parts of
Northern Finland, Sweden and
Norway
see. During middle of winter the sun will rise at 9.30AM and set again come
4.30PM, and the height of summer sees the sun rising at 3.30AM and setting
again at 10PM.